Wide-angle X-ray scattering

<p>In <a href="/facts/X-ray_crystallography/WtI0F5DN">X-ray crystallography</a>, wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) or wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) is the analysis of <a href="/facts/Bragg_peak/jlGM6Mfe">Bragg peaks</a> scattered to wide angles, which (by <a href="/facts/Bragg%2527s_law/qEYANzQg">Bragg's law</a>) are caused by sub-nanometer-sized structures. It is an <a href="/facts/X-ray_diffraction/WtI0F5DN">X-ray-diffraction</a> method and commonly used to determine a range of information about crystalline materials. The term WAXS is commonly used in <a href="/facts/Polymer/eF32E50K">polymer</a> sciences to differentiate it from SAXS but many scientists doing "WAXS" would describe the measurements as Bragg/X-ray/powder diffraction or <a href="/facts/Crystallography/9B5toeqG">crystallography</a>. 
</p><p>Wide-angle X-ray scattering is similar to <a href="/facts/Small-angle_X-ray_scattering/Q4tvaRn7">small-angle X-ray scattering</a> (SAXS) but the increasing angle between the sample and detector is probing smaller length scales. This requires samples to be more ordered/crystalline for information to be extracted. In a dedicated SAXS instrument the distance from sample to the detector is longer to increase angular resolution. Most diffractometers can be used to perform both WAXS and limited SAXS in a single run (small- and wide-angle scattering, SWAXS) by adding a beamstop/knife edge. 
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Wide-angle X-ray scattering open-in-new

Wide-angle X-ray scattering